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2. Alternative Passage Reading Procedures

Alternative Passage Reading Procedures

Grade Level: Third Grade

School: Aloha Huber Park Elementary School

Location: Beaverton, Oregon

Videographer: Dima Yaremenko

Elapsed Time: 7:18

Introduction: Often teachers use round-robin reading, calling on individual children to read. But the disadvantages are well-known to teachers: 1) reduced amount of reading practice as it is distributed across children, 2) voices that cannot be heard, 3) embarrassed low-performing children, 4) off-task students, 5) management challenges emerging in the void, 6) boredom, and 7) many more that you can add.

In this video, Dr. Archer just reminds us of some of the other possible passage reading procedures. Though she does these in quick succession for purpose of a short video, these practices would often be used for subsequent rereadings of the passage in a large or small group.

Focus: As you watch this video,

1) Identify the alternative passage reading procedures that were used.

2) Note other good instructional practices that you observed.

3) Think of any suggestions that you would give the teacher.

Feedback:

1) Identify the alternative passage reading procedures that were used.

a. Silent Reading

Benefits

In the primary grades, students can read material silently before oral reading. As a result, they will be more accurate and confident during oral reading.

Students have an opportunity to practice their decoding skills on unknown words.

All students are practicing reading. However, unless good instructional procedures are used, there will be a number of “silent reading fakers”.

Procedure (Silent Reading)

Teacher indicates the amount to be read silently.

Realizing that there will be early finishers, the teacher directs early finishers to reread the material silently.

The teacher tells students that they will be reading quietly to the teacher when she touches their book or their back.

The teacher moves around the room listening to the students and recording formative data on their reading

The teacher ensures that all students are in the correct place by having them put their fingers under the first word and then has them check their partners.

The teacher reads at a moderate rate (though this could have been a little slower).

When a student is not reading, the class rereads a page. Thus, the expectation is very clear that all students should be reading.

c. Cloze Reading

Benefits

All students are reading. Lots of reading practice is occurring.

The teacher is modeling fluent reading with expression.

There is built-in scaffolding for the lowest performing students. If they do not know a word, they will hear it.

Good practice when all students need to be focused and the material needs to be read quickly.

Excellent practice for reading story problems, directions, and instructional items.

Procedure

The teacher read a little material and stopped and had the students read the next word.

The teacher deleted the words that would best create meaning.

If two words go together (e.g., yellow bus, United States), delete the second word.

d. Partner Reading

Benefits

Lots of reading practice is occurring.

The teacher can move around the room and monitor the students’ reading.

Excellent procedure for rereading a passage.

Helps create a cooperative environment in the classroom.

Procedure

The teacher assigned partners with the lowest performing students paired with middle performing students.

The teacher assigned the partners # 1 and #2 to ensure distribution of practice.

The students have already been taught how to correct each other’s errors.

The teacher monitors during partner reading to promote on-task behavior and correction of oral reading errors.

2) Note other good instructional practices that you observed.

The teacher reviewed the pronunciation and meaning of difficult words before passage reading.

When reviewing the meaning of words, the teacher used an instructional routine so that the students could attend to the vocabulary terms rather than the task. (a. The teacher asks a question. b. The students put up their thumbs when they have an answer. c. Students whisper their answers to their partners. d. The students say the answer.)

The teacher constantly monitors the performance of the students.

When introducing the “Strategy Focus”, the teacher “thinks out-loud”.

A positive, supportive climate is created.

4) Think of any suggestions that you would give the teacher.

During choral reading, slow down a little to be sure that students are reading with you.